Authors: Murdo Morrison
“Ah widnae be so sure that we’re safe here either,” he told her. “Ye’ve seen whit the Germans did tae Poland and London.”
“Maybe no’, but at least ye’re here wi’ me.”
“Aye that’s true, so ah am.” He hugged her and felt her shiver.
“Ah think ah’m ready for that tea now.”
He nodded his agreement and they went back down to the lock gate. Pearl held on to Jimmie’s belt as they crossed on the narrow walkway, averting her eyes from the deep dark waters until they were safely over.
On the way back to Maryhill they walked quickly to stay warm. A moon a little past full hung in the gloaming like a great lantern. Its light made the surface of the canal sparkle, as if magic forces danced among its waters. They walked in silence for a while as a soft darkness fell around them.
“There’s something ah’ve been wanting tae ask you, Pearl.”
“Oh aye, whit’s that?” Then she thought about what he had said and turned to look at him.
Jimmie opened his mouth and closed it again.
“Ah take it ye don’t want tae ask me whit time it is then,” she said in a playful mood, trying to put him at ease.
Jimmie laughed. “Naw, naw, it’s no’ exactly aboot that.”
“Well go on then,” she prompted.
“Ah wis, ah wis…, ah wis hoping ye would like tae get married.”
“Most girls wid like tae get married, Jimmie,” she teased. She wanted to hear him come right out and say it.
“Naw, naw,” he said, speaking with emphasis. “Ah mean, ah wis hoping ye wid ye like to marry me.”
“But we’ve only just met, Jimmie,” she said coyly. "Are ye sure ye don’t want tae think about it some more?”
Jimmie shook his head. “Ye’re right about it being sudden, ah’ll no’ deny that. But ah couldnae be more certain. Sometimes ah think ye jist know about these things.”
Pearl nodded thoughtfully. “Aye ah think maybe ye dae. But whit aboot the war, Jimmie?”
"Are ye saying ye don’t want me then?" he asked.
Pearl put her arms around his neck and looked him straight in the eye. “Naw, naw, ah’m no’ saying that at aw,” she told him, mimicking his usual response. She laughed and kissed him. “Of course ah’ll marry you, Jimmie Dow. Wis it a question ye needed an answer for?”
She hugged him close to her. He felt the dampness of her tears on his cheek. “Ah jist think wi’ this bloody war we should wait a wee bit before we dae, that’s all,” Pearl told him.
His heart rose and sank. In an instant he was happy again. He held her back a moment to look at her before kissing her with an intensity that warmed them both through despite the cold breeze that had come up along the canal.
When he walked in the house, Ida took one look at him and said, “Ye look like a cat that swallowed a cage full o’ canaries, never mind jist one.”
“Aye,” he agreed, “and maybe a few budgies as well.”
“Well sit ye doon an’ tell me all aboot it.”
When he had finished, he asked her, “Are ye pleased Ma?”
“Are ye sure she’s the wan ye want? Jimmie. Ye’ve no’ been oot wi’ many girls. Ah don’t want ye tae rush intae something ye might regret later.”
“Ah’m as sure as ah can be.”
“Well then ah’m pleased for ye son.” Ida came over and hugged her son and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then a serious look came over his face. “Whit is it?” she asked, suddenly worried. “Is there something ye’re no’ telling me?”
Jimmie shifted uneasily in his seat. “Pearl’s a Catholic Ma.”
Ida sat down and nodded her head slowly. “Aye well, that does complicate things jist a wee bit.”
“Ah’m no’ gaun tae gie her up because o’ that.”
“Naebody’s saying ye should,” Ida replied. “But there’s a lot o’ things ye’ll need tae think aboot whether ye like it or no’. There’s how the weans will be brought up fer wan thing. Yer faither and me will no’ stand in yer way. Ye’re a grown man and ye have tae make up yer own mind. But there are a lot o’ folk that are no’ gaun tae like it and will make it hard for ye. Ye need tae be ready fer that.”
Jimmie nodded. “Ah know that but it’s no’ going tae change ma mind.”
“Ah wid be disappointed in ye if it would, and so wid yer faither.”
On the Friday after they became engaged, Pearl and Jimmie went to the Star with his brother Andy and his girlfriend Ruby. After the pictures, they went down to Jaconelli’s. They had just sat down and were trying to decide what to get when Andy dropped a bombshell. “There won’t be too many nights at the pictures for a while. They’re pittin’ us on the night shift,” Andy told the group.
Pearl turned and looked at Jimmie. “Why did ye no’ tell me that?”
“Ach we only jist heard aboot it oorsel’s an’ I wanted to find the right time tae tell ye. Ah didnae think big mouth over there wis gaun tae jist blurt it oot like that.” He took in the unhappy look on Pearl’s face. “We’re no’ any happier aboot it than you are, but there’s no’ much we can dae aboot it.”
“When does this start then?”
“Next week.”
Pearl sighed and looked down at the table. “So when will we be able tae see each other, then?” she asked.
“We’ll still be able tae see each other jist no’ as often,” Jimmie said in a placating tone.
But Ruby, unable to contain her obvious irritation, chimed in before Pearl could reply. “It’s no’ right jist telling ye whit tae dae like that. Ye should go tae the foreman an’ gie him a piece o’ yer mind. That’s whit ah wid dae.”
Andy turned on her. “Aye an’ get us both the sack. Ye cannae jist go up tae the bosses like that. Ye’d be oot the door in a minute.”
“Ah still think ye need tae stick up for yersels,” Ruby insisted.
Pearl couldn’t let that go unchallenged. “Ruby, there’s nae point in making it worse for them than it is already. Ye know they’ve no’ got much tae say aboot it, any more than we dae at McLellan’s.”
Ruby shrugged and looked away at the front of the store. “Aye, ah know,” she conceded grudgingly. “But it’s still no’ right.”
“Well, there’s nae point in spoiling our night oot, is there?” Jimmie ventured. “Whit wid ye like tae have, girls?”
❅❅❅❅❅
Jimmie found it harder to adjust to the nightshift than Andy. He had long envied his brother’s easy passage through life. Nothing seemed to knock him back. It was only now, a fortnight after they had started, that he felt his body was making some accommodation to its new routine. It was just like everything else in his life, he thought. Except for Pearl. Now that was a refreshing change. With Pearl he felt natural and at ease. The first few nights on the new shift had been the worst as he struggled to stay awake. Only his innate stubbornness and willpower, helped by generous amounts of strong tea, had seen him through. Nor was he the type to complain. He knew that many others were enduring the same or worse.
Ach well
, he thought,
it’s Thursday already. I’ll be seeing Pearl at the weekend.
Jimmie waited for Andy to clock in and then pushed his own card into the machine. He looked at it to make sure the machine had marked it correctly and put it back in the rack. “Aye well, ah’ll see ye later, Andy.”
“Right ye are then.” Jimmie watched his brother stroll in the direction of the plumbing shop and shook his head. You would think he was off for a walk through Kelvingrove on a Sunday afternoon instead of facing a long hard shift. Jimmie made his way wearily to the engine shop where he worked as a turner. It was a skilled job that made Jimmie one of the elite in the yard as far as wages were concerned. It also required a great deal of concentration and attention to detail, which had made his sleepless nights that much more of a worry.
Tonight he had to set up a finishing cut that would last through most of the night. It was a job that combined tedium with close attention. Once he got it set up the rest of his shift would be spent watching the freshly sharpened cutter move so slowly along the piece you could hardly tell it was moving. After the job was started you had to see it through to the end. He worked methodically checking every step twice and yet again. Here at least, he thought ruefully, was a place where his slow, careful ways were a bonus. No matter how careful he was, he always hesitated before starting the machine, afraid he had missed something. With a sigh he pressed the switch that would determine the rest of his evening.
His pal Bob Spence stopped to look at the lathe. “That’s gaun tae take a wee while,” he said sympathetically.
Jimmie nodded but made no response.
“Whit’s the matter wi’ you? You should be as happy as Larry now ye’ve found yer special girl,” he said.
“Ach it’s jist that ah hardly see her now that ah’m working nights.”
“Aye, ah can understand that. Nae bloody contest is it. Who widnae rather be winching at the pictures wi some knockout than stuck here. Ah’m assuming she is a bloody knockout, right?”
Jimmie smiled. “Aye, she is. She’s knocked me on mah arse, ah’ll tell ye.”
“But what?” Bob asked.
“Whit dae ye mean?” Jimmie protested.
“Ah get the feeling it’s no aw paradise,” Bob replied.
It was just like Bob Spence tae figure out something was bothering me
, Jimmie thought.
It’s uncanny. The man’s a bloody mind reader
. For once Jimmie’s natural reserve was overwhelmed. “Ah want ye tae understand that there’s nothing wrong between the two o’ us.”
“Aye well, so whit is it?” Jimmie looked closely at the cutter for a moment before answering.
“Ah wis eating ma piece wi’ the lads the other night and big Rab McCulloch said ah wis nothing but a bloody traitor tae marry a Papist bitch and breed a whole bunch o’ little Papist bastards. He said there wis enough o’ those shites already.”
“Ye should know better than tae listen tae a fucking nutter like Rab McCulloch. The man’s no’ right in the heid.”
“Oh aye, well then why did some o’ them agree wi’ him? He’s no’ the only wan who thinks that.”
“Listen son, ye didnae just come up the Clyde on a banana boat, did ye? You know the score. Ye’re no’ gaun tae change the mind o’ a fanatic like him or his pals.”
Bob paused and thought a moment. “So whit did ye dae when he said that?”
“Ah tried to clock him in the gub but ah didnae get a chance. They grabbed a haud o’ me an’ kept me aff him.”
“Aye, well that wis jist as well,” Bob said. “Ah doubt yer even half his size. And ye don’t want the gaffer tae see ye fighting.”
Jimmie knew he was right, but the insult still stung. “Ah don’t gie a damn aboot Rab McCulloch. Ah wisnae gaun tae let him call Pearl a name like that.”
“Ah know, ah know, but ye want tae watch yersel around him. As ah said, he’s a fucking nutcase an’ he’ll stick a knife in yer back as soon as look at ye. Ah could tell ye some rum stories aboot him.” Bob looked at his watch. “Aye, well ah’ve got tae go. You mind and watch yersel’.”
The conversation had troubled Rab. He liked the young man and detested the bigotry he found in people like McCulloch. And he well knew that, in the rough world of the shipyard, accidents had a way of happening without too many questions being asked. McCulloch was quite capable of doing serious harm to Jimmie.
But not if he had anything to do about it
, Bob thought. He made a mental note to have a quiet word with a few of the more levelheaded lads to keep an eye on the boy.
Jimmie was eating his piece and keeping an eye on the lathe when the loud wail of a siren made him jump. He looked around the shop. No one seemed particularly worried. It’s probably just another false alarm, he thought, until he saw Hugh Miller the gaffer heading down the aisle talking to the men. Jimmie couldn’t hear what he was saying. As Miller came up the shop, the men behind him shut down their machines and headed towards the door. He came up to Jimmie.
“Shut her doon and get tae the shelter, son.” Hugh saw Jimmie hesitate. “Come on, get a move on.”
“Ah’m daeing a finish cut Mr. Miller,” Jimmie told him. “Ah cannae shut it doon.”
Hugh thought a minute. “Aye, ah see whit ye mean. All right, but if anything starts get yer arse intae the shelter on the double.”
Jimmie looked around the machine shop, empty except for himself. Over the noise of his machine came a persistent rumble, like a thunderstorm heard from a distance. On this lower note was superimposed a closer more insistent tone that grew rapidly in volume. He recognized it as the drone of aircraft. Christ, this really is a raid, he thought. He looked at the door and back at the lathe. For a moment he remained frozen in place. Jimmie’s state of indecision was terminated by a whistling scream that increased in intensity. He clambered under the heavy frame of the lathe an instant before the building shook from an immense explosion.
It seemed to Jimmie that the earth leapt up at him. For an instant he had the sensation of being elevated from the floor. He yelled in terror and pain as his head connected with the heavy steel of the lathe. The far end of the machine shop collapsed. Glass panes fell from the roof, shattering with the sound of a hundred cymbals struck at once. A roof truss collapsed onto the lathe. Jimmie’s nostrils were filled with the smell of hot metal on metal. The lathe ground to a halt. Jimmie found himself in darkness so complete he could see nothing around him.